We've all been here before. You pour a bowl of cereal and open your fridge to find the milk was "best by" a few days ago. Or that chicken you were planning to make for dinner has a "sell by" date of yesterday.
Does that mean the food you're craving to eat is unsafe to consume?
Food expiration dates -- which include "best if used by/before," "sell by," "use by," and "freeze by" -- are ambiguous at best for one simple reason: they're not required by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration so there is no safety standard. They're simply suggestions provided entirely at the discretion of the manufacturer.
There is one exception -- product dating on infant formula is required by federal regulations. Otherwise those dates printed on food are merely a guide to determine freshness, not a sign that it's unsafe to eat.
"Dates are not an indicator of the product's safety and are not required by Federal law," according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Food Safety and Inspection Service. "The calendar date provides consumers with information on the estimated period of time for which the product will be of best quality and to help the store determine how long to display the product for sale."
There's also a wide variety of phrases used on labels to describe quality dates because no uniform or universally accepted descriptions used on food labels exist. And none of the dates indicate safety.
• A "Best if Used By/Before" date indicates when a product will be of best flavor or quality.
• A "Sell-By" date tells the store how long to display the product for sale for inventory management.
• A "Use-By" date is the last date recommended for the use of the product while at peak quality.
• A "Freeze-By" date indicates when a product should be frozen to maintain peak quality.
All that really leads to confusion when it comes to meal time and you find a date that has passed. It also leads to an enormous amount of food waste across the nation. The USDA estimates that 30% to 40% of the food supply is wasted each year, roughly 39 million tons of food, in part to wholesome food being thrown away because of confusion about the meaning of dates displayed on the label.
So, how do you know if something is safe to eat or spoiled? It's really just a gamble and you have to be ready to throw the dice. Luckily, there are some guidelines you can follow to help your decision making in the kitchen.
If a product has reached its expiration date, you're most likely facing an issue of food quality and not food safety. More often than not, these foods are still fine to eat without concern, especially if the product was stored properly and appears to look fit for consumption.
At the same time, some of us just can't shake the feeling that the expired bread we're facing could be harboring invisible mold. It's always ok to err on the side of caution and remember, "When in doubt, throw it out."
"Look for visual signs of discoloration or mold. If the product gets mushy or really runny, if it smells bad, if the texture of fruit has become mushy or grainy, that's probably a sign that it's past its peak," Diane Javelli, a clinical dietitian at University of Washington Medical Center, said in a statement. "For uncooked meat, if it becomes slimy or sticky, these are all signs, absolutely, that the product should not be used."
According to the FSIS, spoiled foods will develop an off odor, flavor or texture due to naturally occurring spoilage bacteria. If a food has developed such spoilage characteristics, it should not be eaten. Additionally, microorganisms such as molds, yeasts, and bacteria can multiply and cause food to spoil.
There are two types of bacteria that can be found on food: pathogenic bacteria, which cause foodborne illness, and spoilage bacteria, which do not cause illness but do cause foods to deteriorate and develop unpleasant characteristics such as an undesirable taste or odor making the food not wholesome, according to the FSIS.
Here are some general guidelines for freshness, according to the Cleveland Clinic. These items should be safe in the fridge or pantry for the following amount of time:
• Milk: 7 days after opening (Tip: Keep milk in the back of the fridge, where temperature is typically coldest.)
• Eggs: 3-5 weeks (Tip: Also store eggs in the back of the fridge, where the temperature is coldest.)
• Ground meat/poultry: 1-2 days.
• Cooked meat/poultry: 3-4 days.
• Steaks: 3-5 days.
• Fresh poultry: 1-2 days.
• Lunch meat: 2 weeks unopened, or 3-5 days opened.
• Dry pasta: 1-2 years.
• Canned fruit: 12 to 18 months, or 5 to 7 days in the fridge after opening.
• Rice and dried pasta: 2 years, or 3 to 4 days in the fridge after cooking.
Most foods can also be frozen without reducing their nutrient content, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Freezer burn also doesn't mean the food is unsafe to eat, the agency notes. Simply cut the freezer-burned portions away before you cook the food. For the best quality, recommended freezer shelf life is:
• Hamburger and other ground meats: 3-4 months.
• Chicken or turkey: 1 year.
• Soups and stews: 2-3 months.
• Lunch meat: 1-2 months.
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